Stepping into IB courses recently students may have noticed an increase in the number of minority students in the room.

According to a Washington post article the number of minority students taking AP and IB exams has gone up in the past two years.

The number of Hispanic students taking AP tests rose 39 percent to 1,413 students and the number of African American test-takers went up about 15 percent to 835.

Our school attempts to create interest in the International Baccalaureate and honors classes among minority students through the use of workshops.

“We get a grant to run a summer program for one week for kids who are coming out of eighth grade into ninth grade.

We target minority students who have the ability to take honors classes who aren’t signed up for them and invite them to participate to show them honors courses are like,” said IB coordinator Lisa Green.

The increased amount of minority students helps to enhance the academic experience of the program by bringing in a variety of cultures into the classroom.

“The ‘I’ part of IB is international so the whole program embraces the idea of global awareness, being part of something that is larger than yourself and your own subgroup.” Green says.

The increased amount of minorities taking IB exams shows that there is a large diverse group of students who are challenging themselves more in school.

“Students saw their friends taking the classes and saw that it didn’t kill them. It’s good that a diverse group of students attempting the most rigorous classes. It shouldn’t just be one group of kids that are taking all these hard classes. When you look in any classroom it should reflect on the student population” said principal Dan Meier.

Having minorities integrated into IB classes gives students a variety of opinions and perspectives on the things that they are learning about in the IB program.

“Everyone has a different background, the more people with different backgrounds, the more enriching the academic experience” said IB coordinator Wendy Vu.